Protesters go to Statehouse; state facing $100 million school-funding shortfall

Published: May 5, 2004 8:00 PM

COLUMBUS (AP) Ohio schools enrolled about 9,000 more students this year than last, an unexpected increase that is forcing the state to find an additional $108 million to balance its education budget.Districts reported about 1.803 million students at the end of the 2003 school year compared to about 1.812 million when schools finalized their numbers April 15, said Paolo DeMaria, director of the Department of Educations school finance office.In addition, the state identified an increase of about 7,000 special ed students not identified last year, he said.DeMaria discounted the possibility that districts were being more aggressive in labeling special ed students because of the extra funding they receive. He said teaching special ed students also requires a lot more effort by districts.We dont think theres a lot of game playing going on in special education, DeMaria said.Most of the shortfall is caused by the unexpected enrollment and special ed growth. The remainder, about $13.5 million, was caused by a tight budget that left the department unable to meet obligations leftover from last year, DeMaria said.This is the largest such year-end deficit in several years, said Susan Tavakolian, executive director of the Education Departments budget office.The state wants to fix the deficit by shifting about $28 million within the Education Departments budget internally and asking lawmakers for permission to spend about $80 million of the states year-end balance, said Budget Director Tom Johnson.Johnson pitched the proposal to the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday.Officials attributed part of the enrollment increase to students at private schools returning to public schools because of concerns about tuition.A large number of families may have decided to remove their children from private and parochial schools and send them back to the public schools, said Senate President Doug White. I wouldnt blame them.Education Department officials said a more accurate way of counting students may also be to blame.Each student in Ohio now has an individual identification number, making it easier to count all students.If the phenomenon is that accuracy has caused us to identify more students, then we certainly favor that, DeMaria said.Sens. Mark Mallory, a Cincinnati Democrat, and Randy Gardner, a Bowling Green Republican, asked whether the growth in charter schools has contributed to the problem.DeMaria said the department doesnt break down spending for enrollment between charter schools and traditional public schools.The announcement of the shortfall came just hours after hundreds of students, teachers and education advocates rallied at the Statehouse to say Ohio isnt doing enough to help local districts fund schools.Too many districts still must turn to taxpayers for more funding, said Bruce Brocker, president of the Canfield local school board in suburban Youngstown.Youre always right on the edge of disaster, he said. Youre one failed levy short of disaster.Budget cuts may hurt students education, especially compared to other districts, said Carla Davis, a junior at Brookside High School in Sheffield in northeastern Ohio.Our school pride will go down, kids are not going to try as hard, said Davis, 17. We should have the same opportunities as the other schools.Gov. Bob Taft said the state has provided huge funding increases to schools since the first lawsuit was filed challenging the system in 1991.But notwithstanding that, school-funding still remains a partnership, Taft said Wednesday. There is a commensurate responsibility on the part of the local school boards and citizens to seek the voter and taxpayer support that they need at the local level.On the Net:Education Department: http://www.ode.state.oh.us